Filmmaker Francisco Lorite talks to Lorena Mora-Mowry about “Mediation,” a short film that he wrote, produced and directed. “Mediation” world premiere is in Los Angeles on January 11 as part of the NewFilmmakers Film Festival www.nfmla.org.

“Mediation” is the first project coming out of the Top Rebel Productions stable. It presents and sets the creative tone for the company’s overall production direction focusing on dark films, crime dramas and thrillers showing that excellent production can be accomplished with little budget.

“Mediation” tells the story of a divorce mediation that spirals completely out of control for a husband (Freddy Rodriguez), his soon-to-be ex-wife (Marley Shelton) and their court-appointed mediator (Marilyn Sanabria). The short, written and directed by Lorite and starring Freddy Rodriguez (“Six Feet Under”), Marley Shelton (“Mad Man”, “Scream 4”) and Marilyn Sanabria (“Between”).

It will also screen in New York a month later, on February 11, as part of the NY edition of NewFilmmakers. Filmmaker Francisco Lorite rose to fame writing and directing the ten-minute dark comedy called “Cuco Gomez-Gomez is Dead!”. The no-budget piece ended up screening over 150 times in the US alone and got sold for broadcast. It also won five awards –including the prestigious Imagen Award for Best Theatrical Short, “Best Cine Latino” at the DC Film Festival, “Best Edited Short” at the 2005 Manhattan Short Film Festival, and a Special Jury Honor presented by Edward James Olmos at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival.